2011 Major League Baseball wild card chase

Baseball playoff chase August 2023 The 2011 Major League Baseball wild card chase was a playoff chase involving the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in the American League and the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. It has become widely considered one of the greatest playoff races in baseball history. The last day of the season, September 28, 2011, is known throughout the league as Game 162 and is widely considered one of the greatest endings to a regular season in baseball history.Dodd Rustin Blum Sam 2021-09-27 A decade later, the ripples of MLB’s wild, legendary ‘Game 162’ are still felt https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2847751/2021/09/27/a-decade-later-the-ripples-of-mlbs-wild-legendary-game-162-are-still-felt/ 2026-02-05 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 On September 2, the Red Sox and Braves led the American League and National League wild card races by 9 and 8 1 2 games, respectively. Over the next 24 games, the Red Sox went 7–17, while the Braves went 8–16; in the same timespan, the Rays and Cardinals each won 16 games to tie for the wild cards going into Game 162 on September 28, with the rallying teams both being set to host Game 163, if it was necessary.2011-09-28 Game 163 Scheduled, If Necessary - CBS Boston https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/game-163-scheduled-if-necessary-boston-red-sox-tampa-bay-rays/ 2024-09-29 www.cbsnews.com en-US On September 28, the last day of the 2011 regular season, the postseason fate of these four teams fighting for two playoff spots across both leagues was decided.The wildest night ever; Cardinals, Rays earn final postseason spots after Braves, Red Sox collapse Baxter Kevin Los Angeles Times September 29, 2011 C1 In the American League, the Rays defeated their American League East division rivals, the New York Yankees, with dramatic home runs in the 9th inning by Dan Johnson and later in the 12th inning by Evan Longoria to win the American League wild card after the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Red Sox on a walk-off single.https://www.espn.com/boston/mlb/recap?gameId=310928101&teams=boston-red-sox-vs-baltimore-orioles Red Sox miss out on postseason after loss to O's and Rays' win September 29, 2011 January 7, 2012 Associated Press ESPNBoston.com ESPN Internet Ventures live https://web.archive.org/web/20120105185812/http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/recap?gameId=310928101&teams=boston-red-sox-vs-baltimore-orioles January 5, 2012 mdy-allhttps://www.espn.com/boston/mlb/recap?gameId=310928130 Evan Longoria homers in 12th as Rays storm into postseason September 29, 2011 January 7, 2012 Associated Press ESPNNewYork.com ESPN Internet Ventures live https://web.archive.org/web/20111209204226/http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/recap?gameId=310928130 December 9, 2011 mdy-allOrioles rally for win, help keep Red Sox out of playoffs – The Bangor Daily News Retrieved May 1, 2012. In the National League, the Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros to win the National League wild card after the Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in 13 innings.GOOLD DERRICK Cardinals claim wild card as Braves lose in the 13th https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/cardinals-claim-wild-card-as-braves-lose-in-the-13th/article_9ec0ea14-ea0c-11e0-b158-001a4bcf6878.html 2021-07-26 STLtoday.com September 28, 2011 en The Red Sox and Braves became the first teams in history to hold leads as large as eight games in September and miss the postseason.https://www.si.com/mlb/2011/09/29/greatest-collapsesever Where collapses by Red Sox and Braves rank among worst ever Cliff Corcoran Sports Illustrated September 29, 2011 May 22, 2022 Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci called the events of September 28 "the most thrilling 129 minutes in baseball history."Tom Verducci http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tom_verducci/09/29/game.162.drama/index.html Drama of Game 162 never seen before and likely never will again Sports Illustrated September 29, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111001105158/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tom_verducci/09/29/game.162.drama/index.html October 1, 2011 The Cardinals eventually rode the momentum of their win to win the NLDS and NLCS on their way to defeating the Texas Rangers for their 11th World Series title.https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Wild-card-Wednesday-was-plain-crazy-2303776.php Wild-card Wednesday was plain crazy September 29, 2011 Bruce Jenkins San Francisco Chronicle live http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20120206030256/http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-29/sports/30228067_1 February 6, 2012 mdy-allhttp://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110929&content_id=25381504&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb Walk-off wins-day delivers grandest finales Anthony Castrovince MLB.com September 29, 2011 live https://web.archive.org/web/20111002082214/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110929&content_id=25381504&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb October 2, 2011 mdy-allEleventh heaven: Cardinals are Series champs Matthew Leach MLB.com October 29, 2011 January 6, 2012 http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111028&content_id=25823754&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb live https://web.archive.org/web/20120101152411/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111028&content_id=25823754&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb January 1, 2012 mdy-all The 2011 season was the final season of the single wild card format, as MLB added second wild card teams to each league starting with the 2012 season. Background The Rays and Cardinals both overcame deficits of over eight games in the standings on September 2 to tie the Red Sox and Braves, respectively, on September 27. Wild Card standings after games played on September 2 overallWinLoss wildCard 2011 Boston Red Sox 83 54 Tampa Bay Rays 74 63 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 74 64 Cleveland Indians 69 66 Chicago White Sox 68 67 Toronto Blue Jays 69 69 Oakland Athletics 62 76 Minnesota Twins 58 79 Seattle Mariners 58 79 Kansas City Royals 57 82 Baltimore Orioles 55 81 overallWinLoss wildCard 2011 Atlanta Braves 81 56 St. Louis Cardinals 73 65 San Francisco Giants 73 65 Cincinnati Reds 68 70 New York Mets 67 69 Los Angeles Dodgers 67 70 Colorado Rockies 65 73 Washington Nationals 63 73 Pittsburgh Pirates 63 75 Florida Marlins 60 77 San Diego Padres 60 78 Chicago Cubs 59 79 Houston Astros 47 91 Wild Card standings entering September 28 overallWinLoss wildCard 2011 Boston Red Sox 90 71 Tampa Bay Rays 90 71 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 86 75 Cleveland Indians 80 81 Toronto Blue Jays 80 81 Chicago White Sox 79 82 Oakland Athletics 73 88 Kansas City Royals 71 90 Baltimore Orioles 68 93 Seattle Mariners 67 94 Minnesota Twins 62 99 overallWinLoss wildCard 2011 Atlanta Braves 89 72 St. Louis Cardinals 89 72 San Francisco Giants 86 75 Los Angeles Dodgers 81 79 Washington Nationals 79 81 Cincinnati Reds 79 82 New York Mets 76 85 Colorado Rockies 72 89 Florida Marlins 72 89 Pittsburgh Pirates 72 89 Chicago Cubs 71 90 San Diego Padres 70 91 Houston Astros 56 105 American League Wild Card race Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – 7:05 pm (EDT) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland Boston BOS 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 11 0 Baltimore BAL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 7 2 Jim Johnson (6–5) Jonathan Papelbon (4–1) Dustin Pedroia (21) J. J. Hardy (30) 29,749 The game was delayed in the middle of the 7th for 1:26 due to rain The Red Sox were favored by pundits to win the American League pennant prior to the start of the season due to acquisitions of Adrián González, Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks.Red Sox add another epic collapse to their history Associated Press September 29, 2011 Howard Ulman http://articles.boston.com/2011-09-29/sports/30218574_1_red-sox-jonathan-papelbon-david-ortiz https://archive.today/20120707095927/http://articles.boston.com/2011-09-29/sports/30218574_1_red-sox-jonathan-papelbon-david-ortiz dead July 7, 2012 January 7, 2012 The Boston Globehttps://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=7036912&type=story Red Sox numbers tell ugly tale September 29, 2011 January 8, 2012 Jeremy Lundblad ESPNBoston.com ESPN Internet Ventures live https://web.archive.org/web/20111026224009/http://espn.go.com/espn/print?id=7036912&type=story October 26, 2011 mdy-allhttps://www.foxnews.com/sports/mit-professor-picks-red-sox-over-rival-yankees-in-2011/ MIT professor picks Red Sox over rival Yankees in 2011 April 1, 2011 January 21, 2012 Ros Krasny Reuters FoxNews.com live https://web.archive.org/web/20150428071833/http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/04/01/mit-professor-picks-red-sox-rival-yankees-2011/print April 28, 2015 mdy-all Despite a slow start, Boston darted to the top of the division during the summer months. Injuries plagued the team and they slowly lost first place to the Yankees, but were still in comfortable contention for the wild card. The month of September started an epic slump for the team where the team had allowed the Rays to get back into contention.https://www.espn.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7036983/underachieving-boston-red-sox-flunked-chemistry Unlikable Red Sox flunked chemistry September 30, 2011 October 1, 2011 Jackie MacMullan ESPNBoston.com ESPN Internet Ventures Jackie MacMullan live https://web.archive.org/web/20111002042536/http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7036983/underachieving-boston-red-sox-flunked-chemistry October 2, 2011 mdy-all However, Boston still controlled its own destiny going into their final series with the last place Orioles, but wound up having the season come down to the last game.https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/09/28/still-tied-one-game-left/ej5ZZPG5GOBfXY8b5rWG3K/story.xml Still Tied, One Game Left September 29, 2011 October 9, 2011 Dan Shaughnessy The Boston Globe A1September 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes The Red Sox had taken a lead for a good part of the game, but the Orioles mounted a comeback. The game was interrupted by a rain delay in the middle of the 7th with Boston ahead 3–2. Dustin Pedroia’s solo home run in the fifth looked like the eventual game winner. During this rain delay, Dan Shaughnessy proclaimed "I think the Rays are not going to win tonight. I think the one thing we have eliminated is that the Red Sox season is not going to end tonight. They live to play another day." when asked about the Rays' chances of overcoming their 7–0 deficit against the Yankees. This proclamation would instantly backfire on him, as mere seconds after he made this statement, the Rays walked in a run with the bases loaded to make the game 7-1, in what would end up being a six-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut their deficit to 7-6. By the time the game had resumed almost an hour and a half later, the Rays had tied the game at 7 on a two out home run in the bottom of the 9th inning and were in the top of the 10th inning. The Orioles still trailed by a run going into the bottom of the 9th. When leading after eight innings, the Red Sox were 77–0 in 2011.https://www.espn.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7033881/red-sox-dealing-hurt-ages A hurt for the ages September 29, 2011 January 7, 2011 Gordon Edes ESPNBoston.com Gordon Edes live https://web.archive.org/web/20111001155003/http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7033881/red-sox-dealing-hurt-ages October 1, 2011 mdy-all Facing closer Jonathan Papelbon, Chris Davis and Nolan Reimold hit back-to-back doubles with two outs, which tied the game. The next batter, Robert Andino, hit a line drive to left field which Carl Crawford was unable to catch, allowing Reimold to score and the Orioles walked off with the win.https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/09/29/dream-year-ends-tatters/Yvvzrexk1TgxSiyVLn3WeM/story.xml https://archive.today/20120722050629/http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/09/29/dream-year-ends-tatters/Yvvzrexk1TgxSiyVLn3WeM/story.xml dead July 22, 2012 Dream Year Ends in Tatters September 29, 2011 September 29, 2011 Dan Shaughnessy The Boston Globe A1 Dan Shaughnessyhttps://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/sports/baseball/red-sox-orioles.html?ref=baseball&pagewanted=print One Out Away, Red Sox Lose to Seal September Meltdown September 29, 2011 October 9, 2011 Harvey Araton The New York Times B11 live https://web.archive.org/web/20150404034506/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/sports/baseball/red-sox-orioles.html?ref=baseball&pagewanted=print April 4, 2015 mdy-all After the Orioles won, Andino, who had been a Red Sox killer of late, said, "End of season like this, to make Boston go home sad, crying, I'll take it all day."http://www.nesn.com/2011/09/robert-andino-lands-another-blow-to-red-sox.html Robert Andino Happy to Send Red Sox Home 'Sad, Crying' Jonathan Hardacker September 29, 2011 January 7, 2012 NESN.com New England Sports Network live https://web.archive.org/web/20111003040316/http://www.nesn.com/2011/09/robert-andino-lands-another-blow-to-red-sox.html October 3, 2011 mdy-allSpoiler Alert Andino's walk-off single completes Orioles' come-from-behind win over Red Sox, who see their postseason dreams crushed The Baltimore Sun September 29, 2011 Dan Connolly New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – 7:10 pm (EDT) at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida New York NYY 1 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 1 Tampa Bay TB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0 0 1 8 10 1 Jake McGee (5–2) Scott Proctor (2–6) Mark Teixeira 2 (39), Andruw Jones (13) Evan Longoria 2 (31), Dan Johnson (2) 29,518 The Yankees had already won the American League East several days prior to this contest.https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/09/22/tampa-lets-two-slip-away/oDuPXD4WPXVsZ9o4jLrc6L/story.xml https://archive.today/20120330023111/http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2011/09/22/tampa-lets-two-slip-away/oDuPXD4WPXVsZ9o4jLrc6L/story.xml dead March 30, 2012 Rays fall back after sweep by Yankees September 22, 2011 October 3, 2011 Amalie Benjamin The Boston Globe The Rays had been in third place behind both the Yankees and the Red Sox for much of the season.https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=7033863&type=story Seasons change in a matter of minutes January 7, 2012 September 29, 2011 Howard Bryant ESPN.com live https://web.archive.org/web/20111026212411/http://espn.go.com/espn/print?id=7033863&type=story October 26, 2011 mdy-all However, Boston had slowly started to lose many games in September due to poor starting and relief pitching, disappointing hitting from newly acquired free agent Carl Crawford throughout the year, and injuries to key players like Kevin Youkilis. The Rays, who had won the division in 2010, had lost many of their players to free agency, including Carl Crawford. Despite the losses, the Rays had crawled back into contention and faced the Yankees in the final series of the year. Yankees manager Joe Girardi indicated that he would approach the final games so that the team's pitching staff would be set up for the 2011 ALDS against the Detroit Tigers.https://www.espn.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7032366/new-york-yankees-ivan-nova-start-alds-game-2 Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia to start September 29, 2011 January 7, 2012 Wallace Matthews ESPNNewYork.com ESPN Internet Ventures live https://web.archive.org/web/20111209114113/http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7032366/new-york-yankees-ivan-nova-start-alds-game-2 December 9, 2011 mdy-all Suspicions rose to whether or not the Yankees would compete intensely due to them wanting to rest their aging players for the playoffs and to keep the Red Sox out, their fierce rivals whom they had a lopsided losing record to that season.https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2011-schedule-scores.shtml 2011 Boston Red Sox Schedule, Box Scores and Splits baseball-reference.com January 14, 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20111210150515/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2011-schedule-scores.shtml December 10, 2011 mdy-all Girardi indicated that many of his post-season pitchers would not be pitching that game. The Yankees, however, started the game strong by taking a 5–0 lead by the 2nd inning, which was punctuated by a grand slam by first baseman Mark Texiera. Their lead grew to 7–0, which they held as the game entered the bottom of the 8th inning. In the 8th inning, the Rays scored six runs, capped off by a three-run home run by Evan Longoria. In the bottom of the 9th inning, down to his final strike, struggling Rays first baseman Dan Johnson hit a solo home run near the right field foul pole to tie the game. Already depleted from wanting to get pitchers who were not going to be on the postseason roster in, the Yankees went into extra innings with struggling pitchers. During Tampa Bay's half of the 12th inning, Evan Longoria hit his second home run of the game, a walk-off home run that cleared a short wall near the left field foul pole to win the game for the Rays just minutes after the Orioles' victory over the Red Sox.http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/sports/pro/baseball&id=8372210&pt=print Rays clinch AL wild card with stunning rally September 29, 2011 September 29, 2011 Associated Press 7online.com Fred GoodallJuly 2024 medicmedic The win clinched the American League Wild Card for the Rays.http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_28_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&mode=wrap&c_id=mlb#gid=2011_09_28_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=tb Down seven, Rays walk off with AL Wild Card Bill Chastain September 29, 2011 MLB.com January 6, 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130617112318/http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_28_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&mode=wrap&c_id=mlb#gid=2011_09_28_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=tb June 17, 2013 mdy-all Seat No. 10 in the first row behind the right-field foul pole has been painted white in honor of Dan Johnson's, game-tying, ninth-inning, pinch-hit blast during Game 162. They have also renamed the section beyond the left field foul pole "162 Landing" in honor of Longoria's game winning, 12th-inning home run. National League Wild Card race The National League wild-card race came down to the fate of two games on the last day of the regular season. St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – 7:05 pm (CDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas St. Louis STL 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 8 12 0 Houston HOU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 Chris Carpenter (11–9) Brett Myers (7–14) Allen Craig (11) 24,359 The National League Central had been a two-way race late into the season with the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers vying for contention. After the Reds had fallen off, the Brewers had clinched the division.Cubs beat Cards 5–1, give NL Central to Brewers Associated Press September 24, 2011 R.B. Fallstrom https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=310923124&print=1 January 8, 2012 Yahoo! Sports live https://archive.today/20120716160431/http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=310923124&print=1 July 16, 2012 mdy-allFielder, Braun lift Brewers to NL Central crown Associated Press September 24, 2011 Colin Fly https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-brewersclinch&print=1 January 8, 2012 Yahoo! Sports live https://web.archive.org/web/20110929111811/http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-brewersclinch September 29, 2011 mdy-all The Cardinals battled back despite perennial all-star Albert Pujols serving on the disabled list and pitcher Adam Wainwright sitting out the entire year due to Tommy John surgery. Upon Pujols' return, the Cardinals came within one game by defeating the Astros under nine innings of dominant pitching by ace pitcher Chris Carpenter.Go Wild, folks: Cards headed to the postseason Matthew Leach MLB.com September 29, 2011 January 7, 2012 http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_28_bosmlb_balmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=bos#gid=2011_09_28_slnmlb_houmlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=stl live https://web.archive.org/web/20111210214010/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_28_bosmlb_balmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=bos#gid=2011_09_28_slnmlb_houmlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=stl December 10, 2011 mdy-all This game ended up being the odd one out of the four in two ways, as by virtue of its fast 2:20 duration, it ended an hour before the dramatic 37 minute span that the other three games ended at around midnight within (from 11:28 PM to 12:05 AM EDT, the Braves would give up the go-ahead run to lose their game, the Red Sox would blow their game and lose, and the Rays would walk-off to complete their comeback win), despite starting roughly an hour after the three other games, and by virtue of their blowout shutout win, the Cardinals were the only one of the four teams chasing a spot to not have a dramatic last-out comeback or last-out blown lead, as the Rays came back to score the game-tying run when they were a strike away from losing their game, the Braves gave up the game-tying run to blow their lead when they were an out away from winning their game, and the Red Sox gave up the game-tying run to blow their lead when they were a strike away from winning their game. Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – 7:10 pm (EDT) at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia Philadelphia PHI 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 11 0 Atlanta ATL 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 1 Justin De Fratus (1–0) Scott Linebrink (4–4) David Herndon (1) Dan Uggla (36) 45,350 The Philadelphia Phillies had clinched a playoff berth, the division title, and the best league record for weeks. For most of the season, the Atlanta Braves had been in 2nd place in the National League East by a good margin and well ahead in the wild card standings.Collapse complete Braves lose final game 4–3 in 13 innings, 13 out of last 18 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution September 29, 2011 David O'Brien C1 http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-complete-epic-collapse-1191030.html January 7, 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120101165910/http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-complete-epic-collapse-1191030.html January 1, 2012 mdy-all The Phillies had something to play for, a franchise record in wins. They battled back from being an out away from losing to force the game into extra innings where they won and in effect, not only eliminated the Braves from post-season contention,Braves Complete Their Fall To Earth Tierney Mike The New York Times September 29, 2011 B15 https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/sports/baseball/braves-complete-collapse-in-13-inning-loss-to-phillies.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print live https://web.archive.org/web/20150404025835/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/sports/baseball/braves-complete-collapse-in-13-inning-loss-to-phillies.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print April 4, 2015 mdy-all but also set that record with 102, surpassing the previous record of 101 set back-to-back in 1976 and 1977 during their run of three straight division championships from 1976 to 1978.http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20110929_Inside_the_Phillies__Manuel__Phillies_start_second_leg_of_a_magical_season.html?viewAll=y Marathon Milestones: Manuel, Phillies Break Team Records September 29, 2011 Bob Brookover The Philadelphia Inquirer A1 live https://web.archive.org/web/20111002024340/http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20110929_Inside_the_Phillies__Manuel__Phillies_start_second_leg_of_a_magical_season.html?viewAll=y October 2, 2011 mdy-allHistoric Victory September 29, 2011 Ray Parrillo The Philadelphia Inquirer D1 Charlie Manuel also became the manager with most wins in the history of the Phillies with 646 wins, surpassing Gene Mauch, the manager of the Phillies when they collapsed in a similar way the Braves did in 1964. Simultaneous events Some of the notable plays and events in the four games involved happened within minutes of the notable moments of other games involved, which can be seen when watching the four games simultaneously.AwSTzBqujjc MLB September 28, 2011 Game 162 wild card chase in real time Some examples include: The Braves taking a 3–1 lead over the Phillies on a two run home run by Dan Uggla minutes before the Orioles took a 2-1 lead on a two run home run by J.J. Hardy. The first pitch of the Cardinals-Astros game taking place just seconds after Hardy hit his two run home run. The Red Sox took a 3–2 lead on Dustin Pedroia’s solo shot mere seconds after the Yankees extended their lead to 6–0 on Mark Texiera’s solo home run (his second of the game). The Phillies and Rays both coming back from down 2–3 and 0–7 respectively to tie their games and force extra innings during the entirety of the Red Sox–Orioles rain delay (both teams were an out away from losing their games when the game tying plays in each game happened, with the Rays being a strike away). The Rays cutting their deficit down to one run on a three run home run by Evan Longoria minutes before the Cardinals won their game to guarantee at least a tie with the Braves. Greg Golson being tagged out at third by Evan Longoria on a fielder’s choice seconds before Chris Davis hit a two-out double off of Jonathan Papelbon on the first pitch he saw. Nolan Reimold hitting his game-tying ground rule double off of Papelbon on a 2–2 count to tie the game between the Orioles and Red Sox seconds after the Rays escaped the top of the 12th inning against the Yankees without allowing a run after allowing three base runners to reach base in the inning. Longoria hitting a walk-off home run to give the Rays the wild card with an 8–7 win roughly three minutes after Robert Andino hit his walk-off double to give the Orioles a 4–3 win over the Red Sox. Aftermath The Rays would go on to lose the Division Series in four games to the Texas Rangers, winning only Game 1. The Cardinals would go on to defeat the Phillies in the Division Series in five games after falling behind 2–1 in the series (ironically, the Phillies defeating the Braves in Game 162 had allowed St. Louis to clinch a wild card spot), beat their NL Central-rival Brewers in the League Championship Series in six games, and went on to win the World Series over the Rangers in seven games, twice coming back from being a strike away from losing the 2011 World Series in Game 6, which was won on a walk-off home run by David Freese. References 30em 2011 Major League Baseball season Category:History of the Atlanta Braves Category:History of the Boston Red Sox Category:History of the St. Louis Cardinals Category:History of the Tampa Bay Rays